Shock absorber for vehicles



Get. 4, 1927.

H. D. CHURCH SHOCK ABSORBER FOR VEHICLES Original Filed Feb '15, 1923ment of the invention.

Patented Oct. 4, 1927.

; UNITED STATES PA 1,644,653 TENT OFFICE.

HAROLD D. CHURCH, OF FAIRFIELD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR ONE-THIRD TO-CHARLES MARCUS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,

OF MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY.

AND ONE-THIRD T0 RAYMOND P. LANSING,

snocx Aiasoarna roa VEHICLES.

Application filed February 15, 1923, Serial No. 61 9,157. Renewed March8, 1927.

effect is applied in both directions of move-' ment, with a greaterretarding efl'ort exert ed in one direction than in the other.

Another object is to provide, in connection with other features, asmall'range or degree of relatively free movement.

' he characteristlcs and advantages of the invention are furthersufficiently explained in connection with the following detaildescription of the accompanying drawings, which illustrate oneexemplifying embodi- After considering this exempliflcation, personsskilled in the art will understand that modifications may be made withintheprinciples of the invention; and I contemplate the employment of anystructures that are properly within the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a horizontal, longitudinal section of a shock absorberembodying the invention in one form;

. Figure 2 is a section at 2-2, Figure 1; Figures 3 and 4 areexplanatory details; Figure 5 is a view in side elevation, showingsufficient parts of a motor vehicle to ,il-

lustrate one mode of application of the device to a vehicle.

The shock absorber in one physical embodiment may have a generalstructure or organization substantially similar to that disclosed in.the above-mentioned application of Charles Marcus, including a frictionplate-10 having a short arm-extension 11.'

portion of the spindle, adjacent to plate 10. A second friction plate 17is arranged parallel to plate 10. Bushing 16 is located in a centralhole 18 in this plate, and secured irrevolubly in the plate by teeth 19formed in the plate aperture. An. arm 20 extends from plate 17, and atthe outer end this aim has a ball-end fitting 21 to co-operate-with aconnecting link 22, the other end of the link being connected to anysuitable fitting 23 on or connected to the vehicle axle 24, Figure 4. Onspindle 12 is a screw thread 25 and usually this is a multiple thread ofrather steep pitch, the pitch being variable within considerablelimlts', as explained hereafter. A nut 26 is located on the spindle inengagement with the screw thread 25, and the nut has a flange 27 whichis usually circular, and.

parallel to the plates 10 and 17. The nut on its flange is identifiedhereafter, in some cases, as a pressure member.- While the plates 'andthe nut flange might in some cases have direct frictional engagement, itis, usually preferable to interpose between the adjacent surfaces ofthese members friction disks 28 and 29 which may be securedto plate 17or they may in some cases be free'to move independently. The disks arecentered on ends of the bushing 16, and annular washers 30 of cork orother suitable material may be placed between plates 10 and 17andbetween plate 17 and nut flange 27 surrounding the peripheries of thefric tion cdisks, to exclude dust and grit. friction disks may be of anysuitable material or-composition, such as asbestos fabric or othersuitable friction material of the The kind ordinarily used for brake orclutch facings. A sheet metal housing 31 maybe arrangedto ,enclose nut26' and the outer portion of. the spindle, and this housing may have'aflange 32 detachably secured to the nut. flange 27, as by screws. 33.According to a motorv vehicle, plate 10 may be placed against thevertical web 35 of a side frame member 36, either with or withoutinterposed spacers, and may be secured non-rotatively thereon by a screw37 passing through corresponding holes in the frame web and in the endof arm 11, and by a screw-threaded inward extension 39 of screw spindle12, this extension passing through a suitable hole bored in the frameweb 35 and being locked in position by a nut which serves also in thepresent case to hold the s indle in pro er relation to plate 10. Anternative mode of connecting the device to a vehicle is toconnect theend of arm 11 pivotally to the vehicle frame, or'a frame fitting, whilearm 20 is connected to the axle or an axle fitting. Such alternativemethods of connecting a shock absorber of this eneral type to parts of avehicle are well own, and will not be further particularly described.The mode of attachment the vehicle frame and axle, that is to say,

shown in the drawings is a suitable one, and preferable in some cases. i

As so far described,'the appliance is in substantial accordance with thedisclosure of the above identified application of Charles Marcus.

The present invention provides means for applying a suitablepredetermined maximum frictional resistance to relative movement of thevehicle frame and axle in one direction, as in the above identifiedapplication, and it additionally provides means for applyin resistanceto relative movement of the sai vehicle partsin the other direction, theresistance ap lied in this case being preferably less t an in the firstinstance. More particularly stated, the device may be arranged to applya certain maximum frictional resistance to divergent movement of to theexpansion-movement of the vehicle spring, and a smaller amount offrictional resistance to the convergent movement of the frame and axle,that is to say, to the comression of the vehicle spring. 0r the con-'tions may be reversed without any necessary change in the structure ofthe ap liance by merely reversing its position, so t at the maximumfrictional resistance will be' 0 posed to convergent movement of thevehicle frame and axle, that is to say, to the spring compression, andthe smaller amount of resistance will be 0 posed to divergent movementof the vehic 0 parts, that is to say, to the spring ex ansion or recoil.Either arrangement is desirable in some cases. For

the sake of brevity, I will more particularly describe the appliancehereafter as being ar-j ranged to oppose the maximum resistance tovehicle spring recoil, and the smaller amount of resistance to thevehicle spring compression, with the understanding that thereversearrangement may be employed where ever necessary or desirable.

Specifically, in the present embodiment of the invention, the describedfunctions are produced in connection with the screw and nut arrangementabove described, by a spring which has a torsional action as in theabove identified'ap lication, and at the same time has a more irec": orthrust action intermediate the nut or nutflange andthe screw spindle,

A washer or spring abutment is located on'the spindle 12 near its upperend and secured in osition in any convenient way, for example y providinthe washer with an aperture having paral el straight sides 47 engagingfiat faces 48 formed on the spindle, and the washer is locked by acastellated nut 50 engaging the threaded outer end of the spindle sothat the washer is securely held against rotation. A spring 55, which isin the present instance a helical spring of substantial strength, iscompressed between the washer and nut flange 27, the thrust of thespring'being adjustable by rotation of nut 50 in an obvious way Theupper end 56 of spring is bent outward to engage in one of a seriesofnotches 57 produced. at the periphery of Washer 45 by slotting thewasher margin and bending it downward, and the other end 58fof thespring is bent outward to engage against one side of a stud :59 insertedin nut flange 27. The spring is colled up to produce thezdesiredtorsional tension, tending to rotate the nut flange and nut in adirection to move the flange to clamping position, and this-torsionaltension is maintained by snapping [the spring end \56 into the apropriate notch 57 The nut is then acte upon simultaneously by twoforces through the one s ring, i namely spring thrust exerted in theirection of the axis of the spindle, and torsionexerted by thetendencypf the springto 'uncoil, this force acting between a fixedpointon the periphery of the washer and sud 59.

The operation is as fo ows:With the shock absorber arranged asshown inFig. 4,

that is, with a left-hand-screw thread on the spindle, if the vehicleaxisissupposed to be below the frame member; 36, the maximum resistancewill be opposed'to the vehicle spring compression; but if the vehicleframe and the appliance are supposed-to be viewed from below, in whichcasethe vehicle axle would be between the observer and the-drawing, themaximum resistance'will be opposed to vehicle'spring expansion.- Ineither case the action of the device can bereversed byv substituting aspindle havinga right-hand thread with a correspondingly threaded nut'or, without changing any part ofthe appliance, the action can e reversedbychanging the direction of arm 20L It will be sufficient to explain theoperation of. the device as shown in Fig. 1, understandin' that thisdeofarm 20 to be moved upward or away from I via; is supposed'to beviewed rom below, in I movement of arm 20 and the connected plate 17 isresisted by friction between faces-of the friction disks and platelO'and nut flange 27. Friction disk 29 moving with plate 17, tends torotate nut flange 27 and nut 26 on the spindle threads in a directionaway from disc 29. Stud 59 bears against the end 58 of spring 55, andthe described movement of the nut flange therefore tends to coil up thespring as the nut flange is retracted somewhat by the action of thescrew threadsto relax the friction pressure between the various latesand disks. A substantial amount of rictional resistance is, however,maintained by the thrust action of the spring exerted between washer 45and the nutv flan e, this ressure tending continually to run t e nutinward or toward plate 10, and also by the torsional effect of springwhich tends to turn the nut' in the same direction, or in other words toresist the tendency of the nut to rotate in a direction determined bythe stated direction of movement of the arm 20. Otherwise described, thespring acts during the described convergent movement of the vehicle axleand frame both by thrust and by torsion to maintain friction pressurebetween the various friction surfaces, but this spring effect iscounter-acted to a considerable extent 1) the rotative tendency of thenut, this ten ency serving to urge the nut outward against the combinedspring effects, and cancelling a certain part of thespring action. 1

' At the end of the described axle movement and during a short partofthe ensuing opposite axle movement or divergent movement of thevehicle axis and frame caused by the vehicle spring recoil, thefrictional -flange 27 to rotate in the direction opposite to thepreviously described movement, or so that the upper surfaces of the nutscrew threads as viewed in Fig. 1 come in contact with the lowersurfaces of. the spindle threads. At the end of the, small arcofmovenient above mentioned necessary. to bring about the changed screwthread engagement, the continued movement of arm 2O acting frictionallythrough disk 29 and nut flange 27 causes the nut to rotate slightlyfarther about the spindle, this rotative tend-- -ency of the nut beingamplified by the. torsional effect of spring 55. The inclination of thescrew threads thus forces the nut flange inward toward plate 10, and thefriction surfaces are clamped together during 'Without other change,

the remaining part .of the stated vehicle spring recoil movement by thecombined forces due to the inclination of the screw threads, and thethrust and torsion of s rin 55. The frictional resistance thus producedin the stated directionof movementof the vehicle parts is verysubstantial, and usually very much greater than the frictionalresistance to the other vehiclepart movement.

During the movement of arm 20 which tends to produce a clamping actionof the nut and its flan e b screw t rea s, the pressure exerted on vtheinward faces of the spindlethreads in con-' tact with the outer faces ofthe nut threads is relieved in proportion to the thrust effect of spring55. This materially increases the smoothnessor uniformity of operationduring the stated movement of the vehicle parts.

The fact, also, that a substantial part of the friction pressureduringthe stated vehicle part movement is produced by the thrust of spring 55,permits the angle of thescrewthreads to be made steeper than wouldotherwise be necessary to tional effect; and in t is way also the screwthreads are relieved to a certain extent of their duty in applying themaximum frictional effect for which the appliance is 'de- -movement ofthe vehicle parts, that is to say,

to convergent movement of the frame and axle, the appliance is simplyre-arranged as previously explained.

The angle of the screw threads 25 is usually made rather steep so thatthere is no possibility of a complete looking or clam mg action. Theexact angle of the threa s roduce the same fric-' reason of the actionof the depends on the maximum frictional resistance desired, the weightsof the vehicle frame and axle structures, the average speed of thevehicle, the average vehicle load, the mean radius of the frictionsurfaces, and the characteristics 'of the spring sional effect of thesprm is varied in accordance with the angle 0 the screw thread andotherconditions, these matters being de- 55. The tortermined by theparticular conditions of service for which the aplpliance is intended.

, owever, substantial variations in the action of the appliance may beproduced by varying the total length of the spring to change its thrusteffect, or by adjusting itto change its torsional effectin the mannerpreviously explained.

I claim: A vehicle-spring-action controlling appliance, comprisingrelatively movable friction members, spring means exertlng a com-' binedthrust and torsional effect tending to urge said members to frictionalengagement, and frictionally operated means acting to amplify the springeffect in one direction of relative movement of said members and reducethe spring effect in the other direction of relative movement.

2. A shock absorber for vehicles, comprising relatively movable frictionplates, s ring means exerting a combined thrust an torsional effecttending to urge said plates to frictional engagement, and meansincluding a pressure member and a cooperating inclined surface acting toamplify the spring effect in one direction of relative movement of saidplates and to reduce the spring effect in the other direction ofrelative movement.

3. A' shock absorber for vehicles, comprising two friction membersarranged for relative oscillation about a common axis, an inclinedactuating member nonrotatively located in relation to one of saidfriction members, means cooperating with said inclined member to urgesaid friction members into frictional engagement in one direction oftheir relative movement, and a spring 00- operating with said means bycombined thrust and torsional efiect to oppose a predetermined maximumfrictional resistance to relative movement of said friction members inone direction and a smaller amount of resistance to movement of saidmembers in the opposite direction.

4. A shock absorber for vehicles, compris- "ing two friction platesarranged for rela- .tive oscillation about a common axis, an

inclined actuating member nonrotatively located in relation to one ofsaid plates, a pressure member means co-operating with said inclinedmember to urge said plates into frictional engagement in one directionof their relative movement, and spring means cooperating with saidpressure member by combined thrust andtorsional effect to oppose apredetermined maximum frictional resistance to relative movement ofsaidplates in one direction and a smaller amount of [resistance to movementof said plates in w the o posite direction.

5. shock absorber for vehicles, comprising a plate adapted to beconnected to a vehicle member, another plate adapted to be connected toanother relatively movable vehicle member, said plates being arrangedfor relative rotation on a common axis, a member secured non-rotativelyin relation to one of the plates and having an inclined surface, apressure member engaging the inclined surface and arranged to urge theplates to frictional contact, and spring means cooperating with thepressure member and acting by combined thrust and torsional effect toamplify the frictional action of the pressure member in one directionofmovement of said plates, the inclined surface and pressure memberserving to counteract the spring effect to a certain extent and reducethe effective friction in the other direction of plate movement.

,the nut and screw in one direction of move- ;ment of said plates, thenut and screw serving to counteract the spring effect to a certainextent and reduce the effective friction in the other direction of platemovement.

7. A shock absorber for vehicles, comprising a friction plate adapted tobe connected to a vehicle member, a cooperating friction plate having anarm adapte to be connected to another relatively movable. vehiclemember, a spindle non-rotatively secured in relation to one of theplates, a steep-pitch screw thread on the spindle, a nut engagin thescrew thread and having a flangeconf ronting one of the plates, and aspring acting on the nut by combined thrust and, torsion to amplify thefriction effect of the screw thread in one direction of plate movement,.the screw" and nut acting to reduce the spring-thrust eflect in theother direction of plate movement.

8. A shock absorber for vehicles, compris- .ing a friction plate adaptedto be connected to a vehicle member, platg to another relatively movablevehicle member,.a spindle non-rotat-ively secured to one a cooperatingfriction of the plates, a steep pitch screw'thread on the spindle, a nutengaging the screw thread and havlng a flange confronting one of theplates, friction disks between the plates and etween the flange and oneof the plates, and a spring acting on the nut by combined thrustandtorsion to amplify the friction effect of the screw thread in onedirection of plate movement, the screw and nut acting to having anarmadapted to be connected reduce the friction effect due to springthrust in the other direction of plate movement, '9. A shock absorberfor vehicles, comprising a friction plate adapted .to besecured to avehicle frame member, another cooperating frlction plate arranged forrelative rotation and having an arm adapted to 'be secured to anotherrelatively movable vehicle member, a spindle non-rotatively secured inrelation to one of the plates at the axis of having threaded engagementmovement a steep-pitch screw thread a pressure member having with thespindle plate on the spindle, threaded engagement thread, spindle, and ahelical spring located operatively between said abutment and the nut andcompressed to have a thrust action and also tensioned torsionally tourge the nut rotatively in one direction.

10. A shock absorber for vehicles, comprising a friction plate adaptedto be secure cooperating friction plate arranged for relative rotationand having an arm adapted to be secured to another relatively movablevehicle member, a spindle non-rotatively secured in relation to one ofthe plates at the axis of plate movement, a steep-pitch screw thread onthe spindle, a pressure member with the spindle thread, a springabutment secured to the spindle, and a helical spring locatedoperatively between said abutment and the, nut and compressed to have athrust action and also tensioned torsionally to urge the nut rotativelyin one direction, the spring 'abutment having means cooperating w1th thespring to admit of regulation of the spring torsion.

11. A shock absorber for vehicles, com-- prising a friction plateadapted to be secured to a vehicle frame member, a spindlenon-rotatively secured in relation to said plate at the center of itsfriction surface, another cooperating friction plate arranged forrelative rotation about the spindle and having an arm adapted to besecured toanother relatively movable vehicle member,

a friction disk between the plates, 8. steep-- pitch screw thread on thespindle, a pressure member having threaded engagement with the spindlethread, a spring abutment secured to the spindle, and a helical springlocated operat1vely between said abutment andthe nut and compressed-tohave a thrust action and also tensioned torsionall and connected to thespring abutment an pressure member to urge the nut rotatively in onedirection. i

12. A shock absorber for vehicles, comprising a friction late adapted tobe secured to a vehicle ame member, a spindle non-rotatively secured inrelation to said plate at the center of its friction surface, anothercooperating friction plate arranged for relative rotation about thespindle and having an arm adapted to be secured to another relativelymovable vehicle member,

a spring abutment secured to the to a vehicle frame member, another'ment with said notches,

a friction disk between the plates, a steeppitch screw thread on thespindle, a pressure member having threaded engagement with the spindlethread, a spring abutment secured to the spindle, and a helical springlocated operatively between said abutment and the nut and compressed tohave a thrust action and also tensioned torsionall and connected to thespring abutment an pressure member to urge the nut rotatively in onedirection, the spring abutment having peripheral notches cooperatingwith a member of the spring to admit of regulation of the springtorsion.

13. A shock absorber for vehicles, com- 'prisinga friction plate adaptedto be secured to a frame member of the vehicle, a-

end arranged for shiftable locking engageand a stud on the flangearranged to engage the other end of said spring.

14. In a shock absorber or spring check for vehicles, a first frictionplate, a second relatively oscillatable friction plate,a pressurem'ember arranged to apply retarding friction to the second plate, aspring exerting thrust andtorsion tending to urge the pressure member tofrictional engagement, and an inclined actuating member in fixedrelation to the first plate and cooperating with the pressure member sothat the pressuae member is actuated by frictional engagement with thesecond plate when the latter is moved in either direction from anyoperative position, and the thrust spring and inclined membercooperateto apply a maximum frictional retarding effect to the secondplate in one direction of movement and a smaller frictional retardingeffect in the other direction of movement.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,this 31st day of January A. D. 1923.

